Ever since Jeph made a few posts about Beeptrice on Twitter, I started getting worried. I thought that she was going to be like Tilly - a new character that he considered cute and funny that he was going to shove in our faces and leave there. It's pretty obvious what role she was created to fill: She's Roko's new supervisor at whatever her new 'real' job is (I've got the feeling it's a community advisory/advocacy service). However, I'm concerned that she might end up becoming too prominent too quickly in a way that sours people towards her.

All that aside, I do agree with Beeptrice's employers. If there is one thing that any consumer product manufacturer should know it is that there is no upper limit to the abnormal use to which your products will be put and the capability of people to have a bizarre definition of 'intuitive normal usage'. Best to prepare in advance rather than get your butt sued for injuries after they use one as a flaming torch or something. I'm pretty sure that sex toys suffer even more abuse, given the weird places some people can go!

Yeah, I'm not one to jump on a ship on first sight of a new character but Jeph is honouring at least one animé trope here (constant over-reaction to double-entendres) that suggests he is at least deliberately teasing this because he thinks it's cute. However, I do believe that this feeds into the overall Roko arc that she desperately needs a romantic sexual partner to the point where even hints are making her overheat!

Fun fact: in Polish there's no distinction. Both tend to be called "bazyliszek" (similarly, and this has nothing to do with anything, both a mermaid and a siren are translated as "syrena").

In the original mythology there wasn't much of a distinction either. The names were sometimes used interchangeably. And apparently in at least some cases, the difference was whether it was a cockerel egg raised by serpents or a serpent egg raised by a cockerel.

(also I think the notion of a cockerel, a male chicken, laying an egg was also related to the myth, so no, I didn't misspeak )

"Being human, having your health; that's what's important."(from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?"(from: The Eccentric Family )

Okay, for some reason, some posters have decided that Beeptrice's name is a reference to the mythological beast known as the cockatrice, which is similar to the basilisk in its mystical properties and special abilities. The word 'cock' is how some versions of English language refer to roosters (male chickens). It is also a slang term for penis and it appears that some have, for no reason I can grasp myself, have assumed it's a double-entendre and a shipping hint.

FWIW, I think that Jeph intended the name to be a robotisation of 'Beatrice' but maybe I'm conventional and boring.